Atm

osph

eric

Sci

ence

Exp

lore

rs

Hai

lsto

ne(u

nder

pol

arize

d lig

ht) -

Cof

feyv

ille,

KS

Ligh

tnin

g- B

ould

er, C

O

Thun

ders

torm

- Gre

at P

lain

sTo

rnad

o- T

exas

Pan

hand

le

Uni

vers

ity C

orp

orat

ion

for

Atm

osp

heric

Res

earc

h

Nat

iona

l Cen

ter

for

Atm

osp

heric

Res

earc

h •

U

CA

R O

ffic

e of

Pro

gra

ms

P.O

. B

ox 3

000,

Bou

lder

, C

O

8030

7-30

00Ph

one:

(30

3) 4

97-1

000

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3) 4

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Web

: ht

tp:/

/ww

w.u

car.e

du

Wha

t do

you

need

to m

ake

a cl

oud

? I

n th

is

expe

rim

ent y

ou’ll

cre

ate

your

ow

n cl

oud

in a

bo

ttle

.

Gat

her

th

e fo

llow

ing

mat

eria

ls:

• a

larg

e gl

ass

• s

ciss

ors

• a

larg

e ba

lloon

• w

arm

wat

er•

fla

shlig

ht•

mat

ches

Her

e’s

how

to

do

it:

1. P

ositi

on th

e fla

shlig

ht s

o th

at it

shi

nes

thro

ugh

the

jar

and

tow

ard

you.

2. C

ut th

e ne

ck o

ff th

e ba

lloon

. The

bal

loon

nee

dsto

str

etch

acr

oss

the

mou

th o

f the

jar.

Don

’tm

ake

it to

o tig

ht b

ecau

se y

ou n

eed

to b

e ab

le to

pull

the

ballo

on u

p, w

hile

it is

stil

l att

ache

d to

the

jar.

3. T

ake

the

ballo

on o

ff th

e ja

r. P

our

enou

gh w

arm

wat

er to

bar

ely

cove

r th

e bo

ttom

of t

he ja

r.4.

Lig

ht a

mat

ch a

nd d

rop

it in

to th

e ja

r.5.

Str

etch

the

ballo

on o

ver

the

top

of th

e ja

r.6.

Tur

n on

the

flash

light

. N

ow p

ull u

p on

the

ballo

on, b

ut d

on’t

pull

the

ballo

on o

ff th

e ja

r.W

hat d

o yo

u se

e in

side

the

jar?

Wh

at’s

goi

ng

on:

Whe

n yo

u pu

lled

up o

n th

e ba

lloon

, yo

u sh

ould

have

cre

ated

a s

mal

l, sw

irlin

g fo

g in

you

r ja

r. H

owdi

d it

get t

here

? In

the

jar

you

had

all t

he in

gred

ient

s

to m

ake

a cl

oud:

1) i

nvis

ible

wat

er v

apor

in th

e ai

r(t

hat i

s w

hy y

ou a

dded

the

war

m w

ater

); 2)

tiny

par

ti-cl

es fo

r th

e w

ater

to c

onde

nse

onto

(tha

t is

why

you

adde

d th

e sm

oke)

; 3) a

dro

p in

pre

ssur

e an

d te

mpe

ra-

ture

(tha

t is

why

you

pul

led

up o

n th

e ba

lloon

). Th

e te

mpe

ratu

re o

f the

air

dro

pped

bec

ause

itex

pand

ed.

Whe

n yo

u pu

lled

the

ballo

on u

p, t

he a

irin

side

the

jar

had

mor

e ro

om. T

o fil

l tha

t ext

ra ro

om it

had

to e

xpan

d. W

hen

air

expa

nds

it co

ols,

and

whe

nai

r co

ols

it m

ight

form

a c

loud

. W

hen

you

rele

ased

the

ballo

on th

e cl

oud

disa

p-pe

ared

. Thi

s is

bec

ause

the

pres

sure

and

tem

pera

ture

of th

e ai

r in

side

the

jar

rose

, and

the

liqui

d w

ater

inyo

ur c

loud

wen

t bac

k to

bei

ng in

visi

ble

wat

er v

apor

.

How

doe

s a

torn

ado

get i

ts tw

ist?

Mak

e th

isto

rnad

o in

a b

ottl

e an

d y

ou’ll

see

.

Gat

her

th

e fo

llow

ing

mat

eria

ls:

• 2

em

pty

2-lit

er s

oda

bott

les

• 1

/2”

was

her

• ta

pe (

duc

t or

elec

tric

al)

Her

e’s

how

to

do

it:

1. T

o m

ake

the

torn

ado,

you

nee

d a

nar

row

ci

rcul

ar o

peni

ng f

rom

one

bot

tle

to th

e ne

xt.

Thi

s op

enin

g ne

eds

to b

e sm

ooth

and

fre

e of

plas

tic

shar

ds,

bur

rs, e

tc. T

here

are

sev

eral

way

s to

do

this

, but

the

easi

est i

s to

fin

d a

w

ashe

r w

ith

a 1/

2 in

ch h

ole

and

tape

itbe

twee

n th

e tw

o bo

ttle

s or

buy

a T

orna

do

Tube

™ f

rom

a to

y st

ore.

2.

Fill

one

bot

tle

2/3

full

of w

ater

.3.

Att

ach

your

fit

ting

.4.

Hol

d y

our

torn

ado

bott

le s

o th

at th

e bo

ttle

wit

h w

ater

is o

n to

p. G

ive

it a

str

ong

swir

l by

mov

ing

your

arm

s in

a la

rge

circ

ular

pat

tern

.

Wh

at’s

goi

ng

on:

Hop

eful

ly y

ou s

aw a

torn

ado

form

as

the

wat

erfr

om th

e to

p bo

ttle

dra

ined

into

the

bott

om b

ottl

e.H

ow d

id th

is v

orte

x ge

t sta

rted

? W

hen

you

gave

the

bott

les

a sp

in, t

he w

ater

in th

e up

per

bott

le

star

ted

rot

atin

g. T

he v

orte

x is

for

med

as

the

wat

erd

rain

s in

to th

e lo

wer

bot

tle.

How

doe

s a

real

torn

ado

get i

ts tw

ist?

Fir

st th

eat

mos

pher

e st

arts

rot

atin

g, b

ut, u

nlik

e yo

ur to

rna-

do

bott

le, t

he a

tmos

pher

e st

arts

rot

atin

g w

hile

it is

layi

ng f

lat.

The

atm

osph

ere

is r

ollin

g al

ong

the

grou

nd li

ke a

bar

rel.

It g

ets

stoo

d o

n en

d w

hen

itco

me

acro

ss a

str

ong

upd

raft

. Yo

u ca

n tr

y th

esa

me

thin

g w

ith

your

torn

ado

bott

le.

Kee

p th

ebo

ttle

fla

t and

sta

rt th

e w

ater

rot

atin

g. T

hen,

whe

nth

e w

ater

is r

otat

ing

pret

ty f

ast s

tand

the

bott

le o

nen

d.

Did

you

get

a to

rnad

o?

Lig

htni

ng is

the

atm

osph

ere’

s gr

and

iose

dis

play

of s

tati

c el

ectr

icit

y. H

ow c

an y

ou m

ake

a sa

felig

htni

ng b

olt i

n yo

ur h

ome?

Thi

s sh

ocki

ngex

peri

men

t will

sho

w y

ou.

Gat

her

th

e fo

llow

ing

mat

eria

ls:

• a

woo

l soc

k•

pen

cil w

ith

a lo

ng e

rase

r•

Sty

rofo

am tr

ay•

thum

btac

k•

dis

posa

ble

alum

inum

pie

pla

te

Her

e’s

how

to

do

it:

1. P

oke

the

thum

btac

k up

thro

ugh

the

mid

dle

of

the

pie

plat

e.2.

Sti

ck y

our

penc

il’s

eras

er o

nto

the

thum

btac

k.Yo

ur p

enci

l is

now

a h

and

le.

3. T

urn

the

Styr

ofoa

m p

late

ups

ide

dow

n.E

nerg

etic

ally

rub

the

woo

l soc

k ac

ross

the

bot-

tom

of

the

Styr

ofoa

m p

late

for

abo

ut a

min

ute.

4. P

ut th

e m

etal

pie

pla

te o

n to

p of

the

Styr

ofoa

m tr

ay.

5. B

rief

ly to

uch

the

met

al p

late

wit

h yo

ur f

inge

r.Yo

u m

ight

get

a s

hock

!6.

Hol

d o

nto

your

pen

cil h

and

le a

nd li

ft th

em

etal

pla

te o

ff th

e St

yrof

oam

pla

te.

7. Y

our

met

al p

late

is n

ow c

harg

ed.

Hol

d th

em

etal

pla

te c

lose

to a

doo

r kn

ob a

nd lo

ok f

oryo

ur h

omem

ade

light

ning

.

Wh

at’s

goi

ng

on:

Lig

htni

ng, r

eally

just

a b

ig s

park

, occ

urs

beca

use

the

clou

d a

nd th

e gr

ound

hav

e d

iffe

rent

char

ges.

Whe

n yo

u ru

bbed

the

woo

l soc

k on

the

Styr

ofoa

m tr

ay, y

ou g

ave

the

plat

e a

nega

tive

char

ge.

Whe

n yo

u go

t you

r fi

nger

clo

se to

the

alu-

min

um p

late

you

got

a s

mal

l sho

ck b

ecau

se y

our

fing

er ti

p an

d th

e pl

ate

had

dif

fere

nt c

harg

es.

In th

und

er c

loud

s up

dra

fts

and

dow

ndra

fts

act

to s

epar

ate

elec

tric

cha

rges

. T

he to

p of

a c

loud

usua

lly h

as a

pos

itiv

e ch

arge

whi

le th

e bo

ttom

has

a ne

gati

ve c

harg

e. I

t tak

es a

bout

10,

000

volt

s to

mak

e a

spar

k 1

inch

(2.

54 c

enti

met

ers)

long

.Im

agin

e ho

w m

any

volt

s it

take

s fo

r a

spar

k to

jum

p fr

om th

e bo

ttom

of

a cl

oud

to th

e gr

ound

.

How

do

hails

tone

s fo

rm, a

nd w

hat t

o th

ey te

llus

abo

ut th

e in

sid

e of

a th

und

erst

orm

? T

his

dis

-se

ctio

n w

ill te

ll yo

u.

Gat

her

th

e fo

llow

ing

mat

eria

ls:

• a

hai

lsto

ne•

scr

ewd

rive

r•

ham

mer

• p

aper

• p

enci

l

Her

e’s

how

to

do

it:

1. W

ait u

ntil

the

hail

stop

s fa

lling

. 2.

Col

lect

the

larg

est h

ails

tone

you

can

fin

d.

3. T

race

aro

und

it o

n a

piec

e of

pap

er s

o yo

u’ll

have

a r

ecor

d o

f ho

w b

ig it

was

bef

ore

itst

arte

d to

mel

t.4.

Cra

ck it

ope

n w

ith th

e sc

rew

dri

ver

and

ham

mer

.5.

Loo

k fo

r d

iffe

rent

laye

rs o

f ic

e. (

The

se la

yers

look

like

the

laye

rs o

f an

oni

on.)

Wh

at’s

goi

ng

on:

Hai

lsto

nes

have

rin

gs ju

st li

ke tr

ees.

Whe

n a

tree

gro

ws

it g

ets

a ne

w r

ing

and

whe

n a

hails

tone

grow

s it

get

s a

new

rin

g to

o. B

y co

unti

ng th

enu

mbe

r of

rin

gs y

ou c

an f

igur

e ou

t the

num

ber

of

tim

es th

e ha

ilsto

ne w

ent u

p an

d d

own

insi

de

the

clou

d b

efor

e it

got

too

heav

y an

d f

ell t

o ea

rth.

How

did

the

hails

tone

sta

y in

the

clou

d?

Thu

nder

stor

ms

have

pow

erfu

l upd

raft

s th

at k

ept

the

hails

tone

alo

ft u

ntil

it w

as ju

st to

o he

avy.

Com

pare

you

r tr

acin

g to

the

ones

her

e.

Torn

ado

in a

Bot

tle

Dis

sect

ing

Hai

lsto

nes

Let

’s M

ake

a C

lou

d

Hom

emad

e L

igh

tnin

g

© C

opyr

ight

199

9 U

nive

rsity

Cor

por

atio

n fo

r A

tmos

phe

ric R

esea

rch.

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Rig

hts

Rese

rved

.